Anakbayan stands with the youth and people of Egypt against the U.S-Mubarak regime

February 1, 2011

Anakbayan, the militant group of young Filipino workers, professionals, and students expressed today its support to the Egyptian youth and people in their movement to oust the U.S-backed Mubarak regime.

Today, as millions are set to march to the Egyptian capital of Cairo alongside a nationwide general strike to push for the ouster of the U.S-backed Mubarak regime, Anakbayan expresses its solidarity with the Egyptian youth and people.

The militant organization of young Filipino workers, professionals, and students salutes the bravery of our counterparts in the Nile in facing off Mubarak’s state security forces, which are the recipients of the second-highest amount of U.S military assistance to any country and the world, and are like the Armed Forces of the Philippines in their wanton disregard for human rights.

We are all too familiar with the problems facing the Egyptian youth and people: unemployment (9%-11% in the past decade), rising prices of basic commodities and services (contributing to an extreme poverty incidence of 40.5%), insufficient funding for social services, rampant human rights violations, and a government that is servile to the interests of the United States.

The Egyptian people are justified in seeking the ouster of Mubarak for his policies, like that of any other U.S puppet, serve only to enrich multinational and transnational corporations, as well as the local elites.

Anakbayan and the rest of the Filipino youth have drawn, and continue to draw, important lessons from the Egyptian struggle for genuine liberation and democracy for our own cause: the futility of hoping for change under a U.S puppet regime, the worldwide truth that is the burden of pro-globalization policies on the youth and working class, and the need for militant actions to achieve real social change.

We urge our Egyptian counterparts to not be satisfied with the mere removal of Mubarak. They should continue organizing and mobilizing by the millions to push for clean and fair elections, the pursuance of an economic policy towards self-reliance and equitable development for all, and the junking of the old pro-U.S foreign policy. We can say with much certainty that our experience with the two previous ‘People power revolutions’, as well as our recent national elections, has shown that it is not enough to remove a dictator.

Meanwhile, we urge the youth all over the world to be vigilant and closely monitor developments in Egypt. We must show our support in a visible manner to them, and be prepared to condemn any moves by the United States to intervene in Egyptian matters, hijack the peoples’ movement, or outright smash it. We must also not let this opportunity pass in explaining to our fellows how the U.S imperialism that oppresses Egypt also burdens our peoples, and to organize them towards anti-imperialist movements.